


The Sun Will Rise Once More

by alisha_winchester_collins



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991), Beauty and the Beast - All Media Types
Genre: Adam has nightmares, Comfort, Disney, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Married Couple, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 15:35:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6014308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alisha_winchester_collins/pseuds/alisha_winchester_collins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt - Belle/Adam: Adam has nightmares and Belle comforts him</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Sun Will Rise Once More

**Author's Note:**

> (Couldn't think of a good title, so I chose this, based on the original Beauty and the Beast song! :p)

Nightmare. It is a word that Belle has certainly read about in various books before, but never truly experienced herself… not directly of course… but if there is something to be said about nightmares, it is that she knows how to deal with them the best. The first time it happens, Belle is fast asleep beside Adam, her head resting against his chest and his arms around her waist; they’ve been married only a few weeks, but with all the hours being spent by everyone in the castle helping Belle to move in properly and getting their home back to livable conditions, Adam hadn’t gotten a chance to really let everything sink in. Until tonight. He awakens with a start, feeling the after effects of a terrible dream still on his mind, disoriented for a few seconds as he takes in deep breaths, running a hand through his hair and sensing his wife, Belle, beginning to stir beside him.

“Adam? Is everything all right?” She asks, reaching out to touch his shoulder, seeing him in a distressed state.

“Yes, my love. Nothing to worry about. I’m quite fine.” Adam’s voice betrays his confidence though and Belle picks up on it almost immediately; if there’s one thing she’s learned about her husband, it is that he still hasn’t truly dealt with… well, _everything.  
_

“Was it a bad dream?” Belle knows that Adam doesn’t like to talk about what happened, but she is willing to listen.

Hearing her innocent question makes Adam wish that it was something so simple; but now that he is wide awake, the memory is much more detailed and even though he knows it was nothing, he can _feel_  how… how it had been… and before Belle can say anything else, Adam moves to stand by the balcony, trying to sort out his feelings.

“It was more than that Belle.” He says quietly, “I… I was… that thing again… and I keep seeing myself… a beast… hurting you.”

“Oh Adam. It was only a nightmare, you’ve never hurt me before.” Coming to stand in front of him, she touches his cheek, making him look at her, blue eyes meeting hazel.

“How can you say that? I… I took you away from your father all those months ago and I kept you locked up in this miserable place!” His voice is sad but very much serious as he gazes at the woman he loves more than anything in the world; he knows his flaws and imperfections, but she has stayed with him through it all.

“You sent me away; when I needed to go home, you let me.” Belle starts to say to him, “And I came back. For you. Of my own will.” She understands that they may have had an unconventional start to their relationship but she also knows that the last ten years have been akin to a living nightmare for Adam.

He takes a deep breath and turns away from her gaze at the words, frowning and unfocused in his thoughts. She doesn’t say anything else, but waits patiently; the moon is not hidden behind clouds tonight and Belle notices how its glow casts a silvery light on Adam, making him look even more handsome than he is.   

“Sometimes I wonder how you ever fell in love with me.” He whispers softly, sighing again and briefly looking at her again.

“I fell in love with you slowly, and then all at once.” She answers him with a smile.

“This wouldn’t be something from one of your books would it?” Adam knows Belle just as well as she knows him and recognizes which of her quotes come from books and which from her own mind.

“Maybe. But it is true.” The smile has now turned into a grin and even though there is only the moon’s light, Belle knows that she’s blushing and that Adam can tell. 

“Yes, it is.” For the first time that night, Adam smiles as he kisses his wife before pulling her into a hug. 

At that, Belle can’t help but smile to herself. In the moments that pass, she also thinks of something which might be exactly what Adam needs after a nightmare like this.

“Come, I know what will help you sleep better now.” She says to him, offering her hand.

“What do you have in mind?” Adam is curious, the hour is late and surely everyone else is still asleep in the castle. Even so, he takes her hand and follows Belle out of their room, recognizing the path to the library of all places.

“Here we are!” Belle announces happily but softly, well aware that it is past midnight and there are many more people living in the castle now.

“My love, what are we doing here?” His wife’s passion for books is something Adam understands perfectly well; he just doesn’t _truly_  appreciate reading as much as she does. 

“ _We_  are here to find something for me to read to you.” To her, it is the only solution which will work. 

“You’re going to read me to sleep.” Adam says as a matter-of-fact, not questioning it. They both know that while he does enjoy a good book some days, most times, the sheer length of them and the small words are enough to make Adam fall asleep.

“Yes. I am.” Belle is proud of her passion for reading and if it will help Adam after his nightmare, then that’s what she’ll do for him.

Without another word, the two of them walk inside hand in hand, and once they find the perfect book together, Belle reads to Adam for several hours at a stretch, stopping only when she sees the first rays of sun shining through the curtains. At some point during the night, Adam had moved to sit on the carpet, and now his head rested on her lap as he slept peacefully with a hint of a smile on his lips, no sign of the nightmare from before. 

“Sweet dreams my love.” Belle closes the book and leaves it on the table beside her armchair and kisses the top of his head.    

 


End file.
